Varisu film review: Vijay’s goofy charm makes this old-fashioned entertainer work

Yet again, Vijay proves why he’s No.1 in the Tamil film industry. (Screen grab)

The trailer of Vamshi Paidipally’s Varisu didn’t inspire much confidence in the film. It looked like an old-fashioned family drama with amplified sentiments that are typical of the mega serial. That’s exactly what the film offers, but somehow, Vijay makes it work. For the most part anyway.

In this IPL version of a thousand-episode Indian mega serial, the patriarch of a large business family is on the verge of death and must appoint his heir. He has three children but the decision is far from easy, especially as business rivals circle around him smelling blood. If you’ve watched Jesse Armstrong’s Succession, Varisu’s bare plot line will sound uncannily similar, but minus the feisty women characters of the excellent American series.

Business tycoon Rajendran (Sarathkumar) has three sons – Jay (Srikanth), Ajay (Shaam) and Vijay (Vijay). As you can guess, he is not a very imaginative man, so when his youngest son decides he wants to carve his own path, Rajendran cuts him off.

Vijay’s mother Sudha (Jayasudha) is super sad about the state of the family. Controlling husband! Estrangement! Divorce! Sibling rivalry! Rebellious granddaughter! Her role boils down to looking extremely anxious about what the various people in her family are doing but being very, very sure that they HAVE TO stick to each other no matter what (even if someone tries to casually crush another to death with a lorry container).

Vijay, who had no qualms about leaving his home and running around Rajasthan with ghagra ladies to follow his heart, suddenly starts to believe that she’s right about wanting to keep this toxic family intact. And that’s basically what Varisu is all about. The question isn’t RASODE MEIN KAUN THA? but BOARDROOM MEIN KAUN THA? Same difference.

(Screen grab from trailer)

Prakash Raj plays Jayaprakash, Rajendran’s biggest rival. The actor makes great use of his round eyes to issue threats, only to be tamed ever so easily by Harvard graduate Vijay. Only 1% of this can be credited to the latter’s expensive education, though. Ninety-nine percent of the strategy involves beating up goons and sending them to outer space. The action sequences look dated and too “massy”, even for a mass entertainer. Do we really have to hear the sound of bones crunching and see how exactly the muscle collapses when the hero punches someone?

The extravagant sets, glittery costumes (‘the other woman’ predictably wears a fashionable blouse…heh), pasty make-up, and a surplus of close-up shots add to the mega serial feel, but Vijay’s constant entertaining presence saves the film from sinking hopelessly. He’s a live wire in the dances, his comic timing is impeccable, and he carries his unique style in romance without making it look cringey.

There’s nothing new or unpredictable about Varisu but the film chugs along pleasantly, reiterating age-old ideas about family and never once provoking the audience into having an original thought. That sounds so negative but it can be oddly calming.

The ‘business’ side to the film is strictly minimal. Paidipally follows a simplified template and doesn’t get into the complexities of board room politics. Still, one wonders why S.J. Suryah’s tycoon character was called Aditya Mittal. From which angle does the man look or speak like he’s from the Hindi belt?

Rashmika Mandanna’s Divya is Vijay’s ‘love interest’, and that’s all the attention Paidipally appears to have paid to her character. She seems to be from a rich family (their house is massive anyway) but we don’t know what she studied, if she’s working, if she plays tennis or some other rich person sport – heck, we don’t even know her surname (we barely register her first name to begin with). Her sister (Sangeetha) is married into the Rajendran family, and for a moment, it looks like Divya’s opinion on the toxic marriage might be of some value. But before you can get your hopes high, you are reminded that this is, after all, a mega serial.

There’s nothing subtle about Varisu, including Thaman’s music. It’s an unapologetically loud film that runs on very bankable family sentiments that most people in the audience would share. Though it’s old wine, Vijay adds a lot of sparkle to the proceedings and keeps us entertained with his goofy charm. Yet again, the star proves why he’s No.1 in the Tamil film industry. Varisu is a formulaic film, and Vijay brings all its masala to the table.